Israel defies Biden, builds new settlement units in Jerusalem

A general view of Ma’ale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement seven kilometers from Jerusalem on March 16, 2021 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli planning and building committee in Jerusalem is to discuss plans for further construction beyond occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed on Tuesday.

This is, according to Haaretz, the first time that a settlement plan is being proposed and discussed since the start of the tenure of US President Joe Biden.

Haaretz expected that the committee will approve the construction of the proposed 540 settlement units for the area between the settlements of Har Homa and nearby Givat Hamatos in occupied Jerusalem.

The newspaper expected that the settlement units to be built in the settlement of Givat Hamatos will accommodate more than 2,000 settlers.

The issue of settlements in occupied lands is sensitive to Biden as he was the official in Barack Obama’s administration who put pressure on Israel to stop building and expanding settlements.

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